The argument among many in journalism for muted stances is that journalism ethics requires us to refrain from engagement in activism of all kinds.

But this is actually a western social construct.

Journalism doctrine in Africa leaves space for a huge exception: press freedom advocacy related activism. It's due to the repression often encountered while working on the continent: if journos don't speak up for journos, no one else will.

Silence when journalists are killed is what is unethical.